2015 ORS
526.705¹

Loan program

• financial assistance terms and conditions

• rules

(1) To carry out the duties, functions and powers of the Forest Resource Trust, there is created a voluntary loan program to finance establishment of stands of trees and the improved management of qualified private and local government forestlands.

(2) In advancing moneys and providing other assistance for stand establishment, the State Board of Forestry shall:

(a) Give priority to lands zoned for forest uses under county comprehensive plans and to other lands with moderate to high probability of success for long-term stand establishment and improved forest management activities; and

(b) Assist landowners in securing payments for ecosystem services.

(3) The State Board of Forestry may, by rule, establish financial agreements for the repayment of moneys advanced consistent with subsection (2) of this section and including but not limited to the following, singly or in combination:

(a) A revenue-sharing proposal that guarantees the landowner a percentage of the receipts upon harvest after payment of harvest and severance taxes;

(b) Financial agreements; and

(c) Repayment in full with interest if a landowner fails to get the stand free to grow as that term is defined in the Oregon Forest Practices Act, unless said failure is through no fault of the landowner.

(4) The terms of repayment shall be based on considerations that represent the best use and investment of funds including:

(a) Rates of return, as established by the State Board of Forestry, that provide a reasonable payback to the Forest Resource Trust of project costs;

(c) The extent to which landowner contributions of money, labor or other resources reduce the risk to the Forest Resource Trust.

(5) Participating landowners shall not be required to comply with forest practices beyond those required by state and federal law with the exception that planting standards for stand establishment may be more than the required minimum.

(6) The State Forester is authorized, on behalf of the Forest Resource Trust, to enter into contracts with eligible landowners to carry out the provisions of the voluntary loan program. The contracts may include, but are not limited to:

(a) Partial to full financing to the landowner, as specified in rules of the State Board of Forestry, from such moneys as may be available in the Forest Resource Trust Fund.

(b) Any obligations of the landowner for repayment of moneys advanced including, but not limited to:

(A) Terms for sharing the revenue gained from the sales of timber and forest products, including salvage, from the lands enrolled under the voluntary loan program;

(B) Acknowledgment that the rights and obligations of the landowner and the Forest Resource Trust and all of the terms of the contract are covenants that run with the land upon sale, lease or transfer of the land benefiting from the voluntary loan program until all future obligations of the contract are met;

(C) Financial terms allowing the landowner to terminate the contract;

(D) Agreement that there is no obligation to repay the moneys advanced prior to sale of timber and forest products from the land;

(E) Terms to protect the contract from modification unless both parties consent to modification;

(F) Allowance for different prescriptions for stand management; and

(G) Repayment in full with interest if the landowner fails to meet any terms of the contract.

(c) Acknowledgment by the landowner that the State Forester may require a statutory lien on the forest products.

(7) In addition to the contracts provided for in subsection (6) of this section, the State Forester, on behalf of the Forest Resource Trust, may require landowners to execute security agreements in favor of the trust to secure any repayment or other obligations of the landowner. Any security interest required shall have priority from the date of recording or filing.

(8)(a) The State Forester shall record a contract described in subsection (6) of this section with the recording officer of the county or counties in which the forestland is located.

(b) Upon recording, the rights and obligations of the landowner and the Forest Resource Trust under the contract shall become covenants that run with the land and shall be binding upon successors and assigns.

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